A woman accused of abducting her infant daughter from South Carolina 20 years ago has been found in Australia and is facing extradition back to the United States to face charges, federal authorities announced.

On Thursday, US attorney Bill Nettles said an indictment had been unsealed charging Dorothy Lee Barnett, 53, with international parental kidnapping and making a false statement on a passport application.

Her daughter, Savanna Catherine Todd, now 20, was in Australia living a normal life, Nettles said.

Barnett did not have custody of her then 10-month-old daughter when she left the US in 1994, Nettles said.

At the time, police said Barnett left for a birthday party with her daughter and never returned. In 1993, she had filed for divorce from her husband, a former Charleston stockbroker, Benjamin Harris Todd.

Authorities said Barnett had been found in Australia earlier this month and had been living under several aliases.

The Australian justice minister, Michael Keenan, who must approve any extradition request, said Barnett appeared this week in a court at Maroochydore, Queensland.

"As the matter is before the court, it would not be appropriate to comment further," he said in a statement on Saturday. The Australian Federal Police declined to comment on the case.

US authorities gave no details of how they had tracked Barnett down. In a news release, Nettles said federal law enforcement agencies from the US and Australia co-operated on the case.

Court papers show that an arrest warrant was issued for Barnett in 1994.

Barnett had been denied bail pending extradition back to the United States, where no court date had been set, Nettles said. If convicted on all charges, she could face more than 20 years in prison.